Is Oregon only one of three states to allow commercial gillnetting? PolitiFact Oregon

Benjamin Brink/The Oregonian/2009Two men get ready to pull in gillnet on a cold morning on the Columbia River.

PolitiFact
Oregon enjoys tasty Columbia River spring chinook as much as the next
Oregonian, but honestly, we don’t know much catching them.

We suspect many readers don't either, and yet, this
November, we probably will vote on a ballot measure to ban the use of
commercial gillnets in the Columbia. An alternative method would be
allowed.

Gillnets
vary in mesh size and length but they generally work by capturing fish
by the gills and smothering them. The people opposed to gillnets say
it's outdated, indiscriminate and harms native salmon and
steelhead.

And
they say Oregon is in the minority when it comes to gillnets. "Currently, Oregon is one of only three states that allow the use of
gillnets on inland waters," reads a May 30 press release by the Stop Gillnetting Now campaign.